Red Carpet Premeire: “Me and Orson Welles”

Not even the cold weather could keep dozens of movie goers from flocking to the Paramount Theatre Monday night for the premiere of “Me and Orson Welles,” the new film from director Richard Linklater.

The main draw to the red carpet was post-teen idol Zac Efron. While his overall popularity has taken a hit, thanks to a Mr. Robert Pattinson, one would have never guessed it as he made his way down the line.

While the amount of screaming was kept down to a blessed minimum, many teen girls were lined up to have Efron pose for pictures with them and have him autograph various paraphernalia.

While Efron spent his time charming cameras and fans, Linklater and English actor Christian McKay, who plays Welles in the film, were more than happy to take questions.

Linklater was happy with the way the film turned out. He hasn’t paid much attention to critical reviews, but these are of no real concern to him.

“I haven’t really read them yet, but they seem to get it,” he said.

The overall creative process for making the film also pleased Linklater, as it was a lot less time consuming compared to some of his other films.

“It went pretty fast. This film only took three years from optioning the book to finishing the movie. “A Scanner Darkly” took six,” he said.

McKay, who has played Orson Welles on stage, said that portraying him in the movie was fun for him.

“It was a completely different experience. On stage, I played Welles up to age 70, with a fat suit and everything. For the film, I got to play him right at the beginning of his career.”

He was not shy about the fact that he got to play a younger version of Welles, in fact, it was in ways good for him.

“I’m the only actor in the world that had to lose weight to play Orson Welles. What I did was I got on the treadmill at the gym and put up a picture of Zac. He doesn’t have to paint in his jaw.”

He’s not sure whether this role will lead to a future in film, but he was satisfied with the experience.

“I loved it. I absolutely loved it. Me and Rick were talking about doing the old man again in 20 years. There will be no treadmill required, just a lot of chocolates and all the things I love.”